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Aspartame aggravates atherosclerosis through insulin-triggered inflammation

sciencedirect.com

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Re: Aspartame aggravates atherosclerosis through insulin-triggered inflammation

#11

Post by denkmoon »

Guzba wrote: post #5
ein0p wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's why everyone is fat in the US: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-per-capita-caloric-... It's not "aspartame". It's eating out twice as much as we did in early 70s [1], rise of fast food consumption, and huge portion sizes. [1] https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-consumption-nutr...

This just begs the next "why". Why are people eating more now? Such a significant behavior change across a large population is not well explained by "we just did". I'm not sure fast food consumption or huge portion sizes is a great explanation. If fast food is the problem, why does that matter if it just comes down to calories? As for larger portion sizes, would even larger portions make us continue eating? Would tin…

The proportion of households with a person with time and energy to prepare a healthy home cooked meal has diminished. We have sacrificed domestic life on the altar of profit.

Re: Aspartame aggravates atherosclerosis through insulin-triggered inflammation

#12

Post by esskay »

Guzba wrote: post #5
ein0p wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's why everyone is fat in the US: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-per-capita-caloric-... It's not "aspartame". It's eating out twice as much as we did in early 70s [1], rise of fast food consumption, and huge portion sizes. [1] https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-consumption-nutr...

This just begs the next "why". Why are people eating more now? Such a significant behavior change across a large population is not well explained by "we just did". I'm not sure fast food consumption or huge portion sizes is a great explanation. If fast food is the problem, why does that matter if it just comes down to calories? As for larger portion sizes, would even larger portions make us continue eating? Would tin…

> This just begs the next "why". Why are people eating more now?

Have you been in a US supermarket? It's absolutely nuts and I don't think many Americans realise it.

To be bombarded with monumentally huge portions of everything is just a recipe for...well....the situation the US is in. Theres not many other countries that have whole food groups focused on cramming in as much peanut butter, jelly, marshmallow, chocolate, or whatever other high fructose corn syrup crap is being used.

Massive slices of cake prepackaged and ready to eat? Yeah why not. 50 different coffee syrup flavors? Yeah go for it. How about a lovely massive bottle of sugary drink to wash it down? Just one? No no have a crate of 20 of the things.

Just for a comparison, look up candy on the Walmart site. Now do it on Tesco UK. Next, try the bakery, or hell even the meat isle, somehow the exact same product ends up being significantly worse for you in the US.

Re: Aspartame aggravates atherosclerosis through insulin-triggered inflammation

#14

Post by torben-friis »

teslabox wrote: post #2

Aspartame (1965) was approved by the US FDA in 1974/1981. This is commonly paired with acesulfame-K (1967) to provide sweetness in low-calorie drinks and sodas. Saccharin (1879) was the first artificial sweetener, followed by cylcamate (1937). Low calorie sodas (Tab, etc) using these sweeteners were introduced in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the 1980’s diet sodas sweetened with the combination of aspartame and acesulfam…

Aspartame does not increase insulin, unless I'm not updated on the current scientific consensus.

Also your idea is very american centric, diet sodas are mainstream around the world and most of those countries did not follow the us into the obesity epidemic.

Re: Aspartame aggravates atherosclerosis through insulin-triggered inflammation

#15

Post by profsummergig »

teslabox wrote: post #2

Aspartame (1965) was approved by the US FDA in 1974/1981. This is commonly paired with acesulfame-K (1967) to provide sweetness in low-calorie drinks and sodas. Saccharin (1879) was the first artificial sweetener, followed by cylcamate (1937). Low calorie sodas (Tab, etc) using these sweeteners were introduced in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the 1980’s diet sodas sweetened with the combination of aspartame and acesulfam…

I started drinking too much alcohol during the lockdown era.

I experimented with non-alcoholic mocktails. The one that works for me is diet cola + milk in equal proportions. Somehow provides the combination of richness/creaminess, sweetness, bitterness that replaces the feeling of drinking Irish cream.

Diet cola contains aspartame. Anyone know if there's a safer non-sugar version of or alternative to diet cola that I could use instead?

Re: Aspartame aggravates atherosclerosis through insulin-triggered inflammation

#16

Post by sleepyguy »

Peter Attia has covered this at some length.

https://peterattiamd.com/what-are-the-side-effects-of-aspart...

>While an excess of alcohol sugars can cause gastrointestinal distress (e.g., if you overdo it on these you can get diarrhea), in most people they do not cause secretion of insulin from the pancreas due to their distinct chemical structure (see figure of their structures, above).

The same is true for the first group of non-sugar substitute sweeteners I mentioned (e.g., aspartame, saccharin, sucralose), with respect to the lack of insulin response. In addition to studies confirming this, I’ve also documented this in myself for xylitol (my personal favorite), aspartame (Equal), and sucralose (Splenda).

Re: Aspartame aggravates atherosclerosis through insulin-triggered inflammation

#18

Post by techwiz137 »

pupppet wrote: post #13

How is there not a slam dunk answer to whether this 50+ year old incredibly popular ingredient is ok for us or not?

I can be a case study. I drink over 2 liters of Coca-Cola with aspartame, per day, every day on an empty stomach. With an energy drink, containing aspartame. I am not bragging, it is an addiction.

Re: Aspartame aggravates atherosclerosis through insulin-triggered inflammation

#19

Post by brandonmenc »

tulio_ribeiro wrote: post #6
teslabox wrote: post #2

Aspartame (1965) was approved by the US FDA in 1974/1981. This is commonly paired with acesulfame-K (1967) to provide sweetness in low-calorie drinks and sodas. Saccharin (1879) was the first artificial sweetener, followed by cylcamate (1937). Low calorie sodas (Tab, etc) using these sweeteners were introduced in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the 1980’s diet sodas sweetened with the combination of aspartame and acesulfam…

Sweeteners are processed food. Timeline shows more processed food hitting the market, period. Obesity rises. Coincidence? Doubt it. It's not just the sweetener itself. It's the whole shift. More processed crap in everything, sweeteners included. Cheaper, easier, engineered to be addictive. That's the real change that lines up with the weight gain. Focusing just on sweeteners is missing the point. They're just one pie…

Calorie intake is up. Don't overcomplicate it.

From 2016:

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/12/13/whats-on-...

> Broadly speaking, we eat a lot more than we used to: The average American consumed 2,481 calories a day in 2010, about 23% more than in 1970. That’s more than most adults need to maintain their current weight

Re: Aspartame aggravates atherosclerosis through insulin-triggered inflammation

#20

Post by D13Fd »

techwiz137 wrote: post #18
pupppet wrote: post #13

How is there not a slam dunk answer to whether this 50+ year old incredibly popular ingredient is ok for us or not?

I can be a case study. I drink over 2 liters of Coca-Cola with aspartame, per day, every day on an empty stomach. With an energy drink, containing aspartame. I am not bragging, it is an addiction.

Yeah I used to do 2-4 2-liters per day before I gave it up around 12 years ago. I’m hoping that, to the extent it does damage, the effect stops when you stop drinking it.
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